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Friday, July 30, 2010

Phildelphia Phillies starter Roy Oswalt pitches against the Washington Nationals in the first inning of their MLB National League baseball game in Washington, July 30, 2010. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

Phildelphia Phillies starter Roy Oswalt pitches against the Washington Nationals in the first inning of their MLB National League baseball game in Washington, July 30, 2010. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

Phildelphia Phillies starter Roy Oswalt towels off in the dugout while pitching against the Washington Nationals in the sixth inning of their MLB National League baseball game in Washington, July 30, 2010. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

Phildelphia Phillies starter Roy Oswalt towels off in the dugout while pitching against the Washington Nationals in the sixth inning of their MLB National League baseball game in Washington, July 30, 2010. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

The first start by recently acquired pitcher, Roy Oswalt, for the Philadelphia Phillies was a less than memorable event. Oswalt got lit up for 5 runs, of which 4 were ER, in the 6.0 Innings that he pitched. This is hardly the start that most Phillies fans imagined when they first heard that Roy Oswalt became a Philadelphia Phillie.

The Washington Nationals welcomed Roy to the Phillies, by getting 1 run in the first inning, 2 more in the third, and 2 more in the fifth. Oswalt also hit two Washington Nationals batters tonight, after not hitting nearly anyone all season. In a way it was to be expected, with all the excitement of the trade and the traveling to a new team, you can hardly expect Oswalt to be able to fully concentrate on his job tonight.

It is not going to be easy, even with a pitcher like Oswalt for the Phillies. The team still has to go out on the field and play baseball, and tonight the Phillies didn't have much offense to show. The win streak stops at 8, as the Phillies lose to the Nationals by a score of 8 to 1.

The Phillies will go again against the Nationals on Saturday night at 7:05 PM, and on Sunday at 1:05 PM. it will be Joe Blanton pitching for the Phillies on Saturday, and Cole Hamels pitching on Sunday to finish up the series in Washington.

Meanwhile, in Houston tonight, JA Happ was pitching a masterful game at the time this column is being written. He has cruised through six innings and given up no runs, and appears to be well on his way to victory for the Astros. Sometimes all that appears on paper, doesn't hold true in real life. That is baseball, and the Phillies have to still play the game between the lines even with a guy named Roy Oswalt.

Last night, the Phillies had a neat promotion running called the 1980s flashback, there was entertainment and even the ball girls were dressed as they were many years ago in the 80s. Thanks the WPHL, we have some of the scenes that went on last night at the ballpark in Philadelphia. yes, this is the way the Phillies ball girls looked back in the day, got to love those boots! For more photos click here to go to the WPHL Phillies site.

Scenes from last night's 1980's Flashback, hey Phillies how about some 80's uniforms for the players next time?

Just last year, JA Happ finished second for rookie of the year in the National League. Now he is a member of the Houston Astros, and far away from from the team that has appeared in the last two World Series. Happ's overall record as a Philadelphia Phillie is 14-5. Now he will go try to help the Houston Astros baseball team who are next-to-last place in the NL Central and are 14 games back.

It is almost like former Phillies GM Ed Wade wants to rebuild the Astros with his old Phillies team. He has Brett Myers, Pedro Feliz, Jason Michaels, and Michael Bourn, and now he has added Happ.

Happ seemed like one of the Phillies brightest future pitching stars. A good left-handed pitcher is a bit of a rarity in the National League, and now Happ will be pitching out of a Houston Astro rotation, joining Wandy Rogriguez and Brett Myers. Happ will start right off pitching tonight at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired Roy Oswalt, in a stunning near trade deadline trade. The Houston Astros moved Oswalt in exchange for JA Happ, who was one of the Phillies better pitchers, Happ had a 14-5 record for the team over the past few seasons. Oswalt will wear number 44, which he has worn in Houston for 10 years. He will pitch on Friday night in Washington DC, against the Washington Nationals.

The Phillies will now have three legitimate aces on the team, and tonight on the Phillies Talk podcast we wonder if that will be enough to win and get into the playoffs. Jim seems to be all for the trade while Rich has reserved his optimism because Oswalt wanted to come to the Phillies for one reason and that was to have a chance to win the World Series, but isn't that the goal of all players? Is Oswalt just another spoiled player with a 'no trade' contract who got his way and traded to a team that only he could approve of and the Phils might not have been his first choice as reported in the press. Do the Phillies become the "Yankees" of the National League with this move?

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

A lot of good things have been happening for the Philadelphia Phillies. One of the best things is the winning streak, it now stands at seven games. The latest win coming on Wednesday night against the hapless Arizona Diamondbacks. The Phillies improved their record to 55-46 and they remain 3.5 games back behind the Atlanta Braves, who also won on Wednesday night.

Phillies pitcher, Roy Halladay, got his 12th win of the season. He went the distance pitching nine innings with 9 strikeouts. He scattered six hits and only gave up one run to the Diamondbacks. Carlos Ruiz went 3-4, and had three RBI on the night. Jayson Werth had three hits on the night and scored three runs.

The Phillies also introduced a long awaited prospect named Domonic Brown. Brown did not disappoint, scoring two runs and getting two hits on the night and two RBIs. Could Brown be the future right fielder of the Philadelphia Phillies? Before the injury to Shane Victorino, it appeared that Jayson Werth would be traded, but now it seems that worth may have to stay with the Phillies. That might not be a bad thing.

The trade deadline is looming on Saturday at midnight, and pitcher, Roy Oswalt, is still on the market. There was speculation tonight that Oswalt would be coming to the Phillies in a multiple trade deal, it was reported by Buster Olney of ESPN. As of now this is only speculation and nothing has been officially announced.

No other trade activity has been reported with the Phillies with the exception of Roy Oswalt, and Scott Posednik went to the LA Dodgers tonight, there was no other talk about any offense being added to the Phillies via the trade deadline. The way the Phillies have been playing lately it seems they may not need any more offense of power as they been beating up the teams they been playing.

Be sure to come back to FightinPhillies.com to hear the latest trade rumors, we've added a new widget on the website to keep track of what is happening around the league. We'll be talking about the trade deadline and the way the Phillies have been playing on the Phillies talk podcast which we will be recording on Thursday night, give it a listen won't you?

The Phillies team was on a five-game winning streak going into last night's game with Arizona. On Tuesday night, that streak appeared to be in jeopardy. The Phillies pitcher, Cole Hamels, was not the same as his last start. He ran into trouble early, and hit two batters over the course of the game and walked 4.

The offense of the Phillies did not give up. Though they lost the lead in the sixth inning, they quickly regained it in the home half of the sixth inning--thanks to a Raul Ibanez RBI single, and a Ryan Howard home run. The Phillies took the lead after the 6th inning and never looked back after that.

Cole Hamels, pitched for five innings and gave up six hits but struck out eight on the night. Hamels only gave up 3 ER on the night before being lifted. If the Phillies had only waited the inning out, he would have been the winner of the game. The bullpen pitched the rest of the game for the Phillies, and won it for them in the end. Cole Hamels didn't pitch that badly, his record remains at seven wins and seven losses.

The offense star of the game was Ryan Howard, he had 3 RBI, and one home run. Other players picked it up to, Jason Werth went 2-3, and Carlos Ruiz did the same.

It will be Roy Halladay tonight, looking for his season leading 12th win of the year for the Phillies, his ERA remains a low 2.28.

That makes it six games in a row the Phillies have won. This is now their longest winning streak of the season, they have won five games in a row twice prior to this, including prior to last night's game.the team's longest losing streak is five games which happened May 22nd through May 27th.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The Phillies have shown a different side of themselves on this homestand. A sweep of the Rockies in 4 games was probably a 'pie in the sky' thought for most of the way the Phillies were playing on the road just a week and a half ago. That was then, and this is now. The Phillies have been quietly climbing back towards the Braves and first place.

The bats have suddenly come alive and even though Brad Lidge has given us a scare over the last couple games, the wins still go into the win column. Lidge is the subject of another topic that I won’t get into here. He’s a changed pitcher since ‘08 and it seems like he is haunted by his success of ‘08.

Joe Blanton has been pitching better, he got the win yesterday and he had this to say about an adjustment in his pitching delivery, "Ever since I made that adjustment, I felt like things have been going pretty well," Blanton said. "The ball's been down in the zone. I think that's been the biggest adjustment."

Cole Hamels will face the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight, he’ll look for his 8th win of the year. That win total should be much higher for Cole, but do to many starts when he got no support, his win total isn’t that high. Here’s the run support for Cole:

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